Across San Diego, people are doing what they can to save energy, including those who work and play along San Diego Bay, where new technology is being introduced through the Port of San Diego’s Blue Economy Incubator program.
VoltSafe, a hardware company, has engineered the world’s first magnetic connector for high power, which will be tested at boat slips in San Diego marinas starting at the end of next year and through the beginning of 2027.
”What Voltsafe does is bring the metal to the face, and it makes the connection magnetic,” said Sanad Aridah, VoltSafe’s co-founder and chief technical officer, adding, ”so the magnetic connection really is what the boater will get to see and touch and feel every day.”
Aridah said it’s a safer option because it reduces the threat of corrosion that could lead to sparking and fire hazards that come with traditional pronged plugs. However, in the long run, it could give boaters more freedom to manage their utility usage and even alleviate stress on the grid.
”Right now — a lot of people may not know this — but an average boat could consume as much as an average North American home in electricity,” Aridah said.
Here’s how the new technology would work:
”The marina operators get access to a cloud-based dashboard, a web-based dashboard that they can log into” Aridah said. “And the boater, once checked into a slip, they get an invite code on their email. They are checked into that slip, they’re able to see all the metrics from the shore power connection. They can control it themselves, they can schedule it. And they’re also able to see what their live power consumption is and how much energy they’ve consumed so far in their billing period.”
The project is part of a partnership with the Port of San Diego.
”I think it’s allowing us to look to the future,” Zach Birmingham, the agency’s program manager for Blue Technology, said.
VoltSafe is the 12th project to receive funding through the agency’s Blue Economy Incubator. It’s an initiative that supports the development of sustainable aquaculture and marine technologies.
“This allows a safe space to kind of look to the future without putting too much stress on companies to do it themselves,” Birmingham said.
For VoltSafe, Aridah said, the pilot project is the first step in providing not only a safer option for shore power, but one that can reduce power demand too.
“The best and greenest power plant is the one you never have to build,” Aridah said.